Sekt (German Sparkling) Masterclass

Every bottle of German Sekt has €1.02 built into its price — a tax Kaiser Wilhelm II introduced in 1902 to fund the Imperial Navy. The fleet self-scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919. The tax was never cancelled. Germans drink more sparkling wine per capita than any nation on Earth. Kupferberg's cellar in Mainz descends seven stories, 50 metres underground, past 2,000-year-old Roman amphoras that sheltered families from Allied bombs in 1945. In 1800, a butcher's son named Johann-Joseph Krug was born in this city. He crossed the Rhine and founded what many consider the world's greatest Champagne house.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Find the €1.02 Still Funding a Sunken Fleet History · Free

   Where: Buy any bottle of German Sekt — at a wine shop, supermarket, or the Kupferberg terrace shop at Kupferbergterrasse 15, Mainz. Even a €3.99 supermarket Sekt will do.

   What: Look at the bottle. Somewhere in that price is €1.02 you are paying to Kaiser Wilhelm II's Imperial Navy. In 1902, the Kaiser needed to build a fleet to match Britain's Royal Navy. His finance minister had a solution: tax sparkling wine. 50 Pfennig per bottle. The Sektsteuer was born. The fleet was completed. Then the war ended. Then the fleet SELF-SCUTTLED at Scapa Flow, Scotland, in 1919 — 74 warships sent to the seabed by their own crews rather than be surrendered. The Navy has been on the ocean floor for 107 years. The tax? Still €1.02. On every single bottle. Still in German law as the Schaumwein- und Zwischenerzeugnissteuergesetz. In 2024 it raised hundreds of millions of euros for a government budget — not a fleet.

   How: Turn the bottle over. Find the price sticker. Tell whoever you're with: "€1.02 of this is a World War I naval tax that nobody ever cancelled." Watch their face.

   Backup: No bottle needed. Google "Sektsteuer 1902" on your phone. The German government website confirms it's still live. Sometimes the absurdity is more powerful when it's just words on a screen.

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2. 2 Descend Into the 2,000-Year-Old Roman Wine Cellar Under Mainz Adventure · Price: low

   Where: Kupferberg Sektkellerei & Museum, Kupferbergterrasse 15, 55116 Mainz. The entrance is on the Kästrich hill above the city — walk up from the old town or take a short taxi. Book directly at kupferberg-mainz.de or call +49 6131 5542004.

   What: In 1850, Christian Adalbert Kupferberg, age 26, founded his "Fabrication moussirender Weine" on this hill. He chose it because the medieval cellars underneath were ideal for sparkling wine production. In 1888, his sons expanded them into what are now the world's deepest sparkling wine cellars: 7 stories, 60 individual vaulted rooms, 50 meters below the surface. But the cellars didn't start with Kupferberg. Archaeologists found wine amphoras, jugs, and drinking bowls in these vaults that are 2,000 years old. The Romans were drinking wine from this hill when Mainz was the Roman city of Mogontiacum — the military capital of Upper Germania. During WWII, thousands of Mainz residents sheltered from Allied bombs in these same chambers.

   How: Book the guided cellar tour (€19.90/person, ~75 minutes). As you descend to the lowest level — 50 meters underground — look at the Roman-era amphorae in the cases. The same stone walls that stored Kupferberg's Sekt on lees also hid families from Luftangriffe in 1945. Ask your guide which cellar level served as the air-raid shelter. The answer is specific and worth knowing.

   Backup: If you miss the group tour (minimum 20 for private booking), evening wine tastings in the Kupferberg cellar are available via Viator and GetYourGuide, which include the cellar descent with tasting — check platforms for current availability.

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3. 3 Crack the 95% Secret — Compare Tank-Fermented vs Bottle-Fermented Sekt Side by Side Wine · Price: low

   Where: In the Kupferberg tasting room, or at any Mainz wine bar or restaurant. Ask for two glasses to compare.

   What: Here's the thing nobody tells you about German Sekt: 95% of it is made in a pressurized steel tank. Secondary fermentation happens in bulk — fast, consistent, and cheap. Most of the €3.99 supermarket Sekt you see? Tank method, often made from imported Spanish or French base wine. It doesn't have to say where the grapes came from unless it says "Deutscher Sekt b.A." The other 5% — Winzersekt — is where Germany's Sekt revolution is happening. Secondary fermentation in each individual bottle, then the bottle sits neck-down on a riddling rack (Rüttelpult) for a minimum of 9 months, up to 36+ months for grand cru. Every day, someone turns each bottle a quarter-turn and tips it fractionally steeper. Four weeks of daily riddling, then the neck is frozen to -30°C and the yeast plug explodes out. THAT is traditional-method Winzersekt.

   How: Ask for one glass of a standard Kupferberg Sekt (tank method) and one glass of any Winzersekt from Rheinhessen or Pfalz. Hold both up to light: the Charmat will have larger, less persistent bubbles. Smell: the Winzersekt will have autolytic notes — bread, brioche, toast — from years of lees contact. The Riesling Winzersekt will add racy citrus and petrol minerality underneath. The tank Sekt will be fruitier, simpler, more straightforward. Ask: "Which one is from the Rüttelpult?" If the staff knows, they'll light up.

   Backup: If a side-by-side tasting isn't possible, the Wine & Food Tasting in Historic Cellar (bookable via Viator, Peek.com — set in Kupferberg cellars) specifically teaches the Champagne-Sekt relationship and includes a classic Sekt pairing.

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4. 4 Taste the Wine Germany's Only VDP Sekt Estate Makes in 36-Month Silence Wine · Price: moderate

   Where: Sekthaus Raumland, Alzeyer-Str. 123C, 67592 Flörsheim-Dalsheim — 35km south of Mainz in the heart of Rheinhessen. Call ahead: +49 6243 908070, or email info@raumland.de to book a tasting appointment. Open Mon–Fri 08:30–17:00, Sat 10:00–13:00. Drive or take train to Alzey station (20 min from Mainz) then taxi.

   What: In 1990, Volker Raumland started making Sekt at a time when the German wine world considered sparkling wine beneath serious winemakers. He aged his Riesling on lees for years when everyone else raced to bottle and sell. Today, his daughters Katharina and Marie-Luise continue the work, and Sekthaus Raumland is Germany's FIRST and ONLY VDP.Sektgut — classified alongside Germany's greatest wine estates, but in the sparkling category. The top wines sit in bottle on their lees for 36+ months before disgorgement. During that time, dead yeast cells dissolve and release amino acids, fatty acids, and proteins into the wine — autolysis, the same process that makes great Champagne taste like Champagne. On a Riesling base, it means citrus minerality wrapped in brioche, petrol notes threading through toasted bread. Falstaff named Raumland "Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year". Vinum named them "Sekt des Jahres 2025".

   How: Ask specifically for the VDP.Sekt range — from Gutssekt (estate-level) up to any Erste Lage or Grosse Lage if available. The tasting price is typically modest (around €10–15 for a flight; confirm when booking). When the Grosse Lage is poured, hold the glass and say: "How long was this in bottle?" The answer — 36 months minimum, sometimes longer — is the one that recontextualizes every mass-market Sekt you've ever drunk.

   Backup: If a visit isn't possible, find Raumland Riesling Sekt Brut at any serious German wine merchant. The label says VDP.SEKT. That's the identifier. Drink it next to any supermarket Sekt to feel the difference.

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5. 5 Stand Where Krug Was Born — The City That Accidentally Created the World's Greatest Champagne History · Free

   Where: The old town of Mainz, near the Dom (Cathedral). Walk to Marktplatz — the medieval market square in front of Mainz Cathedral, which has stood for 1,000 years. You're standing in the city of Mogontiacum, former Roman capital of Upper Germania.

   What: In 1800, a butcher's son was born in this city. His name was Johann-Joseph Krug. In 1824, he left Mainz, dropped the name "Johann", and eventually made his way to the Champagne region as a bookkeeper for Maison Jacquesson. He was so good at understanding blending that by 1840 he was creating cuvées for multiple Champagne houses. In 1843, he founded Krug et Cie in Reims. Krug is today widely considered the world's greatest Champagne house. A bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée sells for €150–200. Krug Collection 1988 trades for thousands of euros. All of it traces back to a butcher's son who grew up walking distance from where you're standing. He wasn't alone. Jacques Bollinger was from the Duchy of Württemberg. Florens-Louis Heidsieck, who founded the first German-owned Champagne house in 1785, was also German. William Deutz — German. The Champagne houses that the world associates with French luxury culture were substantially built by Germans who saw potential across the Rhine.

   How: Stand in front of Mainz Cathedral. Say this: "The founders of Krug, Bollinger, Heidsieck, and Deutz Champagne were born on this side of the Rhine. Then Germany banned itself from using the word 'Champagne' after WWI. So Germans invented Sekt instead." That's not a footnote in wine history. That IS the story.

   Backup: The Kupferberg Museum (10 minutes' walk) has materials covering this history in depth. If the Cathedral square doesn't feel like enough, the museum connects the dots.

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